The retrial of a Dutch national accused of importing up to $192,000 worth of cocaine on December 20, 200, began yesterday in Supreme Court.

Assistant Justice Archibald Warner heard the statements of several Crown witnesses who recalled the incidents surrounding Eddy Frankyln Filiciana's arrival in Bermuda.

According to Customs officer Peggy Bean, Filiciana, 43, and his sister, Natasha Weaver arrived at Bermuda International Airport aboard a British Airways flight.

Mrs. Bean told the 11-woman, one-man jury that after speaking to the couple, a search of their luggage was conducted but nothing illegal was found.

However, she said, when an ion scan was run on the couple's hands, both tested positive for the presence of cocaine.

"Is this scan a very sensitive one?" defence counsel Patrick Doherty asked the Customs officer.

"Extremely," she said.

"Can one have a positive reading even if they do not directly handle drugs?"

"That's correct," Mrs. Bean said.

Mrs. Bean also testified that when informed that a personal search would be done, Filiciana consented to have his abdomen x-rayed.

At the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital, she said the x-ray revealed foreign objects in the man's stomach and that Filiciana subsequently excreted 40 pellets wrapped in plastic while under her watch.

The court also heard that he eventually passed 90 pellets in total.

Government analyst Christine Quigley testified that 76 of the pellets contained cocaine of 70 percent purity, while the remainder were 66 percent pure.

Each pellet, she said, was about an inch long and wrapped in both clear plastic and latex.

The trial, which is being prosecuted by Crown counsel Charmaine Smith resumes this morning.

It is expected to last until Tuesday.